I’ve always thought the House of Blues should be a venue for just that, BLUES. Although (I suppose unrealistic) it’s too bad the HOB people can’t make it mandatory for all artists to at least perform one blues song in their set. Seriously how hard is it to play the blues if you are a musician already? It’s just a few chords and we can all relate to the blues from time to time right?
With that in mind, I was really looking forward to seeing a true bluesman to grace the House of Blues stage for two nights and, as I said, if you are going to play in a venue called the House of Blues then let’s play the blues. This man is known as the King of the Blues and, as he prepares to turn 82 this year, this will be his last full tour. I’m of course talking about the one and only finger-flying genius that is BB King. If you didn’t come out for one of his shows, you missed out on the warmth, the charisma, and the big talent that makes him the living legend that he is today.
Yet, what you didn’t miss was the drama that surrounded me the whole evening that made it next to impossible to enjoy the show. When did it become okay to be an ass in public if you paid the price of admission? First off, the ticket was not cheap and second, that’s fine if you want to get drunk, but there must be cheaper and more respectful ways to accomplish this task.
You would think that if you spend your money on a big ticket show to see a living legend at an intimate venue that you would actually want to see the show, but apparently this is not the case. Now, you could argue that they’re young and don’t know any better except for the fact that eighty percent of the crowd were in their forties and many even older. Is it necessary to ruin it for others who actually came to see BB King perform or are you just so self centered and ignorant that you are oblivious to this fact?
If you’ve been to the House of Blues before then you know it’s all general admission and, except for a few stools here and there, it’s standing room only. So it’s up to you to jockey for position and, although I came to review the show, I was on double duty as photographer for the first three songs, as well. With that in mind, I needed to get up close to the stage and, even though there was not a photo pit that evening, I had very little trouble slithering myself to second row center.
The rest of the story should be I shot my three songs, BB King put on an amazing show, and I went home, the end. Unfortunately, it’s not that kind of story. A few seconds after planting myself into the spot I thought would score me the angle I needed to get a great shot, a woman in front of me decides it is her mission to alert me and the entire area that I have no business arriving at this time to stand in this spot. Apparently, there is a time table of when one needs to arrive to stand on the main floor. Why she was bothering since this did not affect her in any way I have no idea other than she had nothing better to do. She then places her hands on the stage and proceeds to push her big ass into me to try to get me to vacate. I told her that not only was this none of her business but extremely obnoxious and unnecessary. With that she proceeds to tell me she can do whatever she wants blah blah blah. Her husband soon arrived so she could spew lies about me including the derogatory names I had been apparently calling her. I offer the truth and add that her shoving her ass into me was just obnoxious, plain and simple. He stared at me with a dramatic pause to perhaps size me up until he finally responded with a yes, I can see that.
Soon the lights fade and the show finally begins. The property lines have now blurred (as in most standing room only situations) and I am now just another nameless face in the crowd. B.B. King’s band warms us up for a few songs until the man himself arrives to a sea of applause. He’s in top form tonight and seems to be playing more guitar than I have seen him do in the past. He’s always in good humor and puts on a wonderful show but he generally seems to sing more through the course of the show than anything. Tonight he was determined to step it up a notch and prove there’s a reason for his title and did it with style.
As I said, I was second and at this point third row center with B.B. right up at the edge of the stage and I’m sure he is quite aware of the first 10 to 15 rows in front of him. How one can concentrate on your craft with all this disrespect going on in front of him is beyond me. I know I was having trouble with it all.
The husband of “the woman with the ass” was quickly getting drunker and drunker. In between allowing him to mount her from behind she was chastising him for drunkenness and eventually announced (quite loudly) that he was cut off – “you’re cut off, no more”!
A couple behind me to my left were bumping into me sucking each other’s drunken lips so absorbed in their moment to the point they could not stand in one respectable spot.
Behind me and toward my right were two guys that, through the course of the show, kept contemplating getting into a fight over something I can only imagine was unnecessary. Regardless of what it was, it was disruptive and would rise up again and again after every few songs. All the while a mother and daughter stand in front of me (a little to my right) watching patiently in a way I can only best describe as very “Japanese” - respectful and dignified. With the daughter standing stoically holding a single flower in her hand engrossed in the show looking as if this is the moment she has waited for her whole life.
As the shoving match continued behind me to my right, “the woman with the ass” berates her husband until she finally tells him to get lost. Just a few songs earlier he was practically lying on the stage moments from passing out. As he staggered off, I continued to make an effort to enjoy the show.
B.B. launches into “The Thrill is Gone” and I for the first time am able to just become entirely engrossed in the show and enjoy the blues delivered only the way he can. Suddenly all is good and I am happy I endured everything in the crowd for that one pure moment. As the horns kick in, I realized the King of the Blues is just three rows right in front of me delivering his signature tune to me and anyone else that is willing to take a moment to appreciate it and life is good.
Shortly thereafter, a security guard appears from the crowd to inform “the woman with the ass” that her husband has passed out in the men’s room and has puked all over himself. The two trouble makers behind me to my right are next on the list and are escorted out of the crowd.
And what about the mother and daughter? Well, the daughter finds that moment she has been waiting for and stretches forward with the flower. Grabbing B.B.’s attention he not only presents her with a very special pin off of his lapel but a guitar pick he has just been playing with all evening.
I walk down the stairs on the House of Blues thinking maybe there is justice in the world. As I turn to walk out the door I see the husband of “the woman with the ass” all alone holding his head in agony and I can’t help but smile.
• Random Noise appears monthly, exclusively in Lumino Magazine.
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